2010 Offseason: SS

I write this amidst a backdrop of Edgar Renteria headlines…Did you know that Thursday was his first 3 RBI game of the season…

The short list for 2011 SS starts and ends with Jhonny Peralta.  The Tigers are sitting on a $7.25M club option, but they are leaning towards declining it (there is a $250k buyout…what a racket).  Note that he made $4.85M last year.  They have until 5 days after the WS ends to make a decision.  Peralta has a career .748 OPS, .703 last year (.710 with the Tigers).  He’s been above .800 twice, but he really has not come close to hi 2005 season which saw him hit 35 doubles, slug 24 homers, and end with an .886 OPS.  According to Fangraphs, he was in the middle of the AL defensively (though he had a negative fielding rating) with a 1.4 WAR.  His ZR and RF are middle of the pack as well, at SS, though he didn’t qualify for a full season at either SS or 3B.

Beck wrote a few days ago that the Tigers are working on a two-year deal with him, for a little less than Inge’s deal.

If somehow the Peralta deal does not get done, here’s a list of free agent short stops (thank’s to Cot’s for the list), * means that either the player or the team have a 2011 option.  Any interest?

Orlando Cabrera CIN *
Craig Counsell MIL
Alex Gonzalez ATL *
Cristian Guzman TEX
J.J. Hardy MIN
Jerry Hairston Jr. SD
Omar Infante ATL *
Cesar Izturis BAL
Derek Jeter NYY
Jhonny Peralta DET *
Edgar Renteria SF *
Jose Reyes NYM *
Jimmy Rollins PHI *
Juan Uribe SF
Ramon Vazquez HOU
Chris Woodward SEA

This are pretty bare down on the farm.  Cale Iorg has headed up the Tigers SS prospects for a few years, though at 25, the clock is ticking on him.  Gustavo Nunez had a promising 2009, only to recess in 2010.  Nunez is 22 and worth keeping an eye one.  Unfortunately, that’s about it.  (Note that 19 year old Daniel Fields, a Detroit native, came up as a SS, but was moved to CF over the summer.)

21 thoughts on “2010 Offseason: SS”

  1. I don’t think there’s a name on there I wouldn’t rather have than Johnny Peralta. Also, the majority of the big names with options on that list aren’t going anywhere. Gonzalez, Infante, Jeter, Reyes, Rollins, and Cabrera won’t be available.

  2. Let’s save some time and get the rest of the infield out of the way right now:

    SS: Peralta
    2B: Put all the scrubs in a bag, shake it up, and whoever comes out first plays.
    1B: Duh!

    So tomorrow we can move on to C. The Martinez rumors are interesting. But I jump the gun.

  3. I’m not so concerned about Pheralta’s range (I’m more concerned about the whole package). Inge is quite accustomed to “cheating” toward SS, and barring any more Inge knee hijinks I think the combined left side range will be fine. However I would be concerned about pairing Pheralta with a totem pole at 2B (cough cough Carlos cough cough)…

  4. Great world series by the way. If only we could figure out a way to take a young talented pitching staff and add some veteran hitters like Huff and Renteria…oh wait, nevermind…

  5. Just for the sake (that’s “sake,” not “sake,” as in Japanese alcoholic beverage) of randomness: Casper Wells is the only player in MLB history named Casper.

    Madison Bumgarner is the only player in MLB history named Madison. And the Giants won the World Series…something to keep in mind.

    Also: this year was the first time in MLB history that the World Series MVP was a sandwich.

  6. At this point, Jay Honey is our best bet at SS. Sure, you want a guy with more range, sure you want a guy that bats .300, sure you want a guy that hits for consistent power, sure you want a guy that can run the bases – the fact is every team wants that at every position. So instead of just saying “get rid of this guy” or “he’s terrible” we need to say what our best option is. In my mind, if you’re against Peralta, you must want Santiago as your every day SS…or you want a fill-in like J.J. Hardy (Adam Everett).

    Personally, I don’t have a problem with Peralta’s defense. He impresses me handling the bad hops. Likewise, his bat is not a big bopper, but it’s a major-league bat. I’m good with J.P. as my shortstop.

    1. I had to shut the celebration off. Liked that the Giants won, but couldn’t stand the thought of those two getting a ring.

    2. Renteria is still a bad player. He just happened to have good timing on a hot streak in the World Series. He’s also not particularly clutch. He has 278 career postseason at bats (over 15 series) and owns a .252/.327/.339 batting line which is actually significantly worse than his career regular season batting line. He was on a very good team and got lucky. No more, no less. He’ll be celebrated as some sort of Mr. October clutch performer, but not by anybody reasonable.

    1. A little follow-up on this: @mikeaxisa to be fair, thats industry speculation based on fact arod is being paid until hes 42. i dont know that that will be his stance

  7. It’s not very often a player wins 2 different World Series games with a hit and HR. He won the game for the Marlins and his 3 run jack sure didn’t hurt the Giants. I have no great affection for him as he was pretty horrific when he was with the Tigers, but he has been pretty special in World Series games. Marlins and Giants fans will forever remember him.

  8. Well it won’t be Brent Dlugach at SS. The Tigers are sending him to Boston for the ever-popular Player To Be Named Later.

    He did seem to show a bit of promise, and SS/3B is not exactly our strongest area. On the other hand, exactly how DO you pronounce that?

  9. God Bless you Sparky your star will shine forever in Detriot/ Cincinatti and the rest of MLB

  10. guess i better learn how to spell Detroit never spelled it wrong before must have been in a moment of grief

  11. As of today the Tigers have reached a two year agreement with Jhonny Peralta that contains a third year club option and I couldn’t be happier. Not because he’s in the Hanley Ramirez mode (because he’s clearly not) but because he is clearly better than the alternatives. He is an average defender with an above average bat and after be exposed to the .220 average and 2 home runs a year from guys like Adam Everett I am very excited about the possibility of having a shortstop put up solid offensive numbers. Now they just need to work on Carl Crawford, Adam Dunn, Jayson Werth, and Victor Martinez. Signing one of them would be great but get two, say Crawford and Martinez, and the Tigers could have a potentially dominate lineup.

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